Matej Bel ako historik antických dejín
Matej Bel as a Historian of Ancient History

Summary/Abstract: Baroque scholar and polymath Matej Bel had mainly established himself in the sphere of history, national history and geography, ethnography and genealogy within Hungarian history thanks to his impressive work Notitia Hungariae novae historico geographica (1735 – 1749), i. e. The Knowledge. He does not leave out ancient times in the description of particular Hungarian counties history (settlements in their area). Thus The Knowledge of Matej Bel represents a precious evidence about shaping opinions of the Ancient Rome in our area from the era of baroque historiography. Regarding his hypotheses, their proving and argumentation in general, Matej Bel presents himself as an erudite historian of the ancient history with great knowledge of antique sources. He critically compares and verifies claims of not only humanist historians, but also his contemporaries. According to Matej Bel, only unequivocally identifiable findings of material culture may be regarded as truly convincing arguments. However, when comes to their historical interpretation, he tries to regard general situation and dynamics of historical development of the Roman Empire in given time and space. Thus, even when he does not have adequate information, his logical consideration of presence and localization of Roman settlements are unusually accurate.

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